Mounting brackets for gutters



July 21, 1959 R. s. GRAVING ETAL 2,895,694

MOUNTING BRACKETS FOR GUTTERS Filed Jan. 23. 1956 3 mwo N M mum l m6. Taw A T HE an I United States Patent MOUNTING BRACKETS FOR GUTTERS Robert.S. Graving and Lyle W. Lund, Minneapolis, Minn. Application January 23,1956, Serial No. 560,498

1 Claim. (Cl. 248-48.1)

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in mountingbrackets for roof gutters, and particularly to Such gutters of the typecommonly known to the trade as Ogee gutters, which are usuallyconstructed independently of the roof caves, and are subsequentlysecured thereto.

Ogee gutters are commonly constructed of sheet metal, and the outer orfront wall of the gutter is normally unsupported, except for itsconnection with the bottom wall of the gutter. When such gutters areembodied in the caves of a building, it is customary to pro vide somesort of supporting means for the outer front wall of the gutter wherebyit is not likely to become distorted by placing a ladder thereagainst,or from sagging as a result of snow and ice accumulating therein.

Various types of mounting brackets have heretofore been made forsupporting the outer front wall of such gutters, but to the best of ourknowledge, all of these require the use of additional securing elementsfor fixedly anchoring the outer ends .of the brackets to the Ogeemolding forming the top edge of the gutter.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to providea simple inexpensive bracket for supporting a conventional Ogee typegutter on the usual caves of a building, whereby the gutter will beretained in fixed relation to the caves and is not likely to becomedistorted when a ladder is placed against the gutter, or to sag as aresult of snow and ice accumulating therein.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mounting bracket forconventional metallic gutters comprising a main body portion having itsouter terminal portion bent upwardly and then horizontally inwardly toform a hook adapted to be received within the usual reversely turnedOgee molding provided at the upper edge portion of the front wall of thegutter, the opposite end portion of said main body terminating in anupwardly in clined strap-like hand manipulating extension adapted to befinally secured to the roof boards under the usual shingles or coveringmaterial of the roof.

A further object resides in the specific construction of the outerterminal portion of the bracket which provides an inwardly, horizontallyextending tongue adapted to be closely received within a longitudinallyextending slotlike recess provided by the upper flat edge portion of thefront gutter wall being downwardly and outwardly turned. The oppositeupwardly inclined end portion of the bracket is adapted to be fixedlysecured to the roof boards, as by nailing, under the shingles adjacentthe gutter after first inserting the horizontal tongue portion of thehook-shaped end into the slot-like recess provided in the Ogee molding,whereby both ends of the bracket may then be placed under tension andconcealed from view when the upwardly inclined hand manipulating endportion of the bracket is secured to the roof boards in position torigidly support the Ogee molding and adjacent outer front wall of thegutter.

These and other objects of the invention and the means for theirattainment will be more apparent from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings there has been disclosed a structuredesigned to carry out the various objects of the invention, but it is tobe understood that the invention is not confined to the exact featuresshown, as various changes may be made within the scope of the claimwhich follows.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a roof, showing thepreferred manner of securing the gutter mounting bracket to the buildingroof;

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view showing one end of thebracket secured to the roof boards with the main body portion of thebracket horizontally dis.- posed within the upper margins of the gutterbetween an upturned offset inner portion which is seated thereinadjacent the roof and the similarly offset and upturned hook portion atthe opposite end of said bracket and seated and received within the Ogeebead forming the upper edge of the front gutter wall; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the bracket only, showing the meansprovided at the lower horizontal portion thereof for reinforcing thebracket against bending.

In the selected embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, there isillustrated in Figures 1 and 2, a portion of the roof of a buildingcomprising the usual rafters 2, roof boards 3, shingles 4 and friezboard 5.

The Ogee gutter shown in Figures 1 and 2, comprises the usual rearupright wall 6, bottom wall 7, and front wall 8. The upper marginal edgeportion of the gutter is shown bent outwardly and upwardly, and thenceinwardly as shown at 9, with its marginal edge portion 11 turned underto provide an outwardly facing restricted recess 12 between the parallelupper edge portions 9 and 11. Such beading of the upper marginal edge ofthe front wall 8 adequately stiifens and strengthens the upper edge ofthe front wall 8 so that under normal conditions, the front gutter wallmay retain its normal position, as will be understood by reference toFigures 1 and 2.

The back wall 6 of the gutter terminates at its upper end in anoutwardly and upwardly inclined flange 13, which is seated directly uponthe roof boards 3 and is secured thereto by nailing, as shown in Figure2.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the specificconstruction of the mounting bracket shown in Figure 3 of theapplication drawing, and generally designated by the numeral 10 so thatit may securely hold up and reenforce the entire front wall structureagainst sagging or collapse under abnormal conditions of use. Thisbracket comprises an elongated strip of metal or like stiff materialproviding a main body 14 terminating at its outer end in an upwardly andinwardly turned hook portion 15, shaped to fit into and seat against theouter wall and base of the Ogee bead 16 provided along the upperlongitudinal edge of the front wall of the gutter, as best illustratedin Figures 1 and 2. The upwardly turned tongue 17 of the hook portion 15extends parallel with the main body 14 and is adapted to be hooked underand forceably received in the longitudinally extending recess 12provided at the upper edge of the front wall 8 as the offset saddleportion 18 of the body portion 14 is forced down to horizontal seatedposition within the gutter and secured on the shoulder and inner wall 6thereof. When so doing the upwardly turned hooked end portion 15 issimultaneously seated into and against the bottom wall as well as thefront and top walls of the Ogee bead with the top horizontal lip portionthereof interlocked with the outwardly facing channel 12 of the bead.The front wall structure 8 of the gutter is thus uniformly spaced andbraced throughout its length from the roof attached inner wall portionsthereof by the two rigid shouldered end portions of the body 14 of thebracket which extends horizontally thereacross within the gutter andbetween the shouldered portion of the inner wall and the inwardly facingbead of the front wall, as best understood in Figure 2.

.The opposite end of the main body 14 of the bracket 10, is shown formedwith an upwardly directed olfset 18, having one end of a strap-likemember 19 secured thereto, which extends upwardly at an inclinecorresponding to the pitch of the roof to which it is to be secured bysuitable nailing, as shown in Figure 1. The strap-like extension 19 isapertured, as shown at 21 in Figure 3, to facilitate nailing, as will beunderstood. The offset or shoulder 18 cooperates with the hook-likeelement to retain the front and rear upright walls of the gutter inspaced parallel relation. The brackets 10 are located at spacedintervals along the length of the gutter so as to adequately support theouter wall of the gutter against abnormal pressures, such as may becaused by a ladder, or by snow or ice accumulating in the gutter.

The novel gutter mounting bracket herein disclosed is extremely simpleand inexpensive in construction and is so fashioned that its outer endmay be quickly fitted into the outer reinforced bead of the gutter withits opposite end seated on the roof boards or the flange 13, asindicated in Figures 1 and 2. When so positioned and nailed, the gutteris firmly anchored to the building, whereby it is not likely to becomedistorted, as hereinbefore stated.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom, and the appended claim should be construed as broadly aspermissible in view of the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

In combination, a roof gutter having a rear vertical wall angledinwardly and upwardly from an intermediate point thereon to provide roofboard engaging and connecting shoulder portions, a horizontal bottomwall and an upwardly and outwardly inclined front wall, said front wallhaving a preformed U-shaped bead along its upper edge with spaced topand bottom horizontal walls providing therebetween a channel, and saidtop wall of said bead being downwardly and inwardly turned providing ahorizontal narrow channel way at the inner edge of said first mentionedchannel, and a single piece mounting bar bracket for said guttercomprising a main body portion extending horizontally across said gutterbetween the front and rear walls thereof; the improvement comprising theintermediate portion of said bracket being oifset upwardly and outwardlyproviding a hand manipulating roof anchoring extension and anintermediate saddle and vertical shoulder portion overlying and tightlyengaging the shoulder and vertical rear wall of said gutter, and theopposite end portion of said bracket having an upwardly and inwardlyfacing hooked end with the upper horizontal tongue thereof underlyingthe top wall of said bead and positively interlocked within the narrowchannel way thereof and the lower portion seated against the bottomhorizontal wall of said head, whereby uniformly spacing and bracing thefront wall structure of said gutter from the rear wall portions thereofand securing same under tension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,855,241 Irwin Apr. 26, 1932 2,144,663 Petersen Ian. 24, 1939 2,843,063Thomson July 15, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 110,726 Australia May 28, 1940858,932 France May 20, 1940

